Sharrief
A masculine Arabic name signifying nobility or being of an elevated rank.
Name Census estimates that about 9 living Americans carry the first name Sharrief. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sharrief today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sharrief births was 1974 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sharrief. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Sharrief. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
9
~ 1 in 38,083,815 Americans
Peak year
1974
5 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
1977 SSA rank
#6,715
Tracked since 1974
Popularity
Sharrief: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Sharrief by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Sharrief during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 10 | 0 | 10 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Sharrief
The name Sharrief is derived from the Arabic language and has its origins in the Middle East. It is believed to have emerged around the 7th century AD, during the rise of Islam and the spread of Arabic culture and language across the region.
Sharrief is a variant spelling of the Arabic name Sharif, which means "noble" or "highborn." It is a descriptive name that was often given to individuals of noble or respected lineage, particularly those who could trace their ancestry back to the Prophet Muhammad.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Sharrief can be found in the Quran, the holy book of Islam. The term "Sharif" is mentioned several times in the text, referring to those who were considered noble or honorable within the Muslim community.
Throughout the medieval period, the name Sharrief became associated with various prominent figures in the Islamic world. One notable example is Sharrief al-Din Ali Yazdi, a Persian philosopher and astronomer who lived in the 15th century and made significant contributions to the field of astronomy.
Another historical figure bearing the name Sharrief was Sharrief Ibn Ali, a 17th-century Yemeni poet and scholar who was renowned for his literary works and his expertise in the Arabic language.
In the 19th century, Sharrief Pasha was a prominent Ottoman statesman and diplomat who served as the Grand Vizier (prime minister) of the Ottoman Empire from 1878 to 1879.
Moving into the modern era, Sharrief Abdul Aziz was a Pakistani politician and diplomat who served as the President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1962 to 1963.
Lastly, Sharrief Abdul Kadir was a renowned South African writer and activist who played a significant role in the anti-apartheid movement during the 20th century.
While the name Sharrief has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has since spread to various parts of the world and has been adopted by people of different backgrounds and ethnicities.
People
Sharrief + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sharrief as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sharrief: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sharrief?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sharrief going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 38,083,815 US residents.
Is Sharrief a common name?
We classify Sharrief as "Very Rare". It ranks above 25.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sharrief most popular?
The single biggest year for Sharrief was 1974, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sharrief is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Sharrief in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sharrief a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sharrief in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Sharrief still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sharrief in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Sharrief can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Sharrief?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.